The Adventures of Alice Baskerville Vol:1
by Alice Arima Baskerville
Summary: Alice Arima Baskerville is sent to the world of Monster Girl Quest. This is her first adventure to a new world, how will the youngest Baskerville fare on her first journey? OP OC
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note:** **Hi this is my first fanfiction and as such will probably be rife with spelling mistakes, and will likely have a distinct lack of professional storytelling. This will not be much of a problem to me though as this was a request friend and is more for their benefit than anyone else. That does not mean I do not want constructive criticism or helpful reviews as these can help me improve my writing skills and therefore would be appreciated.**

 **Warning to those who will be reading this:** **This fanfic, as requested by my friend, will have an OP MC and will most likely contain M rated themes, whether it be violence or sexual content. In regards to the sexual content it will almost certainly be yuri, as the OC is female and it is one of the things my friend has requested. If anyone has issues with this sort of content then do not continue reading.**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Monster Girl Quest.**

 **PS:** **My OC's name is Alice, sorry if this will cause some confusion. I will say now that Alipheese Fateburn will not be encountered until her plot appearance arrives so the Alice you encounter before then is my OC.**

* * *

 _She was almost there. She was the greatest explorer the world has ever known!_

 _She had traveled through harsh deserts, cut through the most dense jungles and tamed the mightiest seas! Now she was almost at the peak of the highest mountain to obtain her prize. The legendary COOKIE OF CHIPPED CHOCOLATE! She was so close, just a few more meters, she could see it!_

 _She took it in her hands and gazed on its delicious spotted surface. This was it, the moment she had striven for, to eat the most delicious cookie ever chipped. She slowly took the-_

 **BANG!**

"UWAAH!".

 _Thud_

Alice rubbed her head and looked around for the perpetrator, the foul asshole who awoke her before she could taste victory. She'd tried so hard and got so far, didn't any of that even matter?

Then she saw him, that prick, that asshole...her brother Viktor, standing there holding a revolver (probably full of blanks) with a shit-eating grin plastered over his face.

She should destroy him were he stands for his crime, but now was not the time for revenge, she wasn't strong enough. But she vowed then and there to avenge her interrupted dream.

"WHY'D YOU HAVE TO DO THAT IT WAS GETTING TO THE BEST PART!"

"Exactly, that's the best time to interrupt a dream..."

 _The nerve._

"...besides, you were meant to be up two hours ago, seriously I expected this tardiness from Achlys but not you."

"Two hours ago?"

Alice looked over to her clock and realized that it was now 11:13. She knew being up two hours late was bad….

 _Wait late? Late for what?_

"Whats happening today?"

Viktor simply raised an eyebrow and stared incredulously.

"World jumping? Totally excited for two weeks straight? Promised to get up early?"

"THAT'S TODAY!"

That's it. Viktor has officially been forgiven, and the cookie forgotten. World Jumping TODAY!

I can't believe its finally happening I'm gonna go into my first world… I mean sure Viktor does it all the time, and says it isn't a big deal BUT SERIOUSLY, I've been cooped up in Baskerville Hall WAAAY too long, and besides if I'm gonna get stronger I need to get outta here.

"Glad to see your memory is intact. I'll be in the Auger room when you're ready."

...This was actually happening. I was going to my first world…. I should probably get dressed.

Deciding to just go with my usual getup I put on a deep navy-blue sleeved dress, that almost reached my knees, pulled up a pair of stockings, the same color as the dress and pulled on a pair of combat boots, again the same color. I then went over and picked up my pocket watch, it was a beautiful piece of work, made of a navy colored precious stone that had been hollowed out and filled with gears. It had golden ornamentation surrounding it and the craftsmanship was to an otherworldly perfection.

Let it never be said that Viktor's work is ever flawed.

I then headed out of my room and went to search for my other two thirds, Achlys and Macathee.

Normally I'd probably not bother but Achlys would get pretty pissed if I went ahead without her and … actually Macathee probably wouldn't care that much.

I decided that the best place to look would be the gym, Achlys was probably taking some non-existent frustrations out on the poor wounded punching bag.

When I entered I was in for a not very big surprise.

Achlys had planned to ambush me.

"HAAAA-

 **CRASH**

"..."

"...why did you dodge." Achlys asked while nursing her poor foot that accidentally made contact with the wall beside me.

"Because I have no intention of looking bruised on my first world jump. Are you coming or what?"

Her face lit up in recognition.

"Of course I'm coming, I can't have Ali-Chan getting killed on her first world jump."

"But you tried to fly-kick me."

"It was training, for uh, reflexes and… um...defense skills?"

"..."

"..."

"Lets just go find Macathee."

"Okay."

It took awhile but we eventually found her just sitting in her room.

Why didn't we check her room first?….. Shut up.

We all then made our way to the Auger room were Viktor was waiting for us.

We'd only been here once before when Viktor permitted us to see Solomon use the Auger.

I was getting slightly scared, the auger looked like some big blue orb with varying golden rings surrounding it that all rotated on their own axis, it was mesmerizing.

"Alright." Viktor spoke up,

"Now that all three of you are here I'm gonna give you a quick breakdown of how this will work. A world will be chosen, you will pass through the Auger, its that simple. The Auger will do the rest for you. It will create what we refer to as a crypt on the world you are jumping to. After some time it will energize enough to unseal itself and will awaken you. It can serve as temporary accommodation if required.

As you know you are beings far beyond the limitations of any worlds inhabitants. Whether you decide to reveal what you are to anyone else is entirely up to you. Furthermore as more than one person are going at once, each will have a separate crypt in differing locations, each will open at different times, with Alice's opening first and Macathee's last. The only guarantee I can give is that each crypt will be the same distance from the others.

Now having said all this.. what kind of world are you looking for?"

At that we all paused. We'd been so excited for world jumping we hadn't thought about were we actually wanted to go..

"Well, I guess somewhere with monsters, and magical abilities we can replicate."

"I want weapons. Swords, guns or whatever, doesn't really matter to me."

"…blood..."

Everyone just kinda stared awkwardly at Macathee. I mean seriously you don't just say that and smile serenely like you've seen a beautiful sunset. Sis' got issues.

"Ahem, anyway I get the gist. Magic, monsters and enough violence to employ weaponry and satisfy certain…. Urges?"

We all nodded.

"Okay then, one more thing, you're likely interested in how to replicate all the tasty DNA, magic and tech you come across right? Well its quite simple, we Deus Rex have a natural appendage that doesn't require prior replication. It is a tail like appendage with a.. 'maw' at the end of it. While it is perfectly capable of ingesting material into your body that is not its purpose. It s also capable of acting as a magic focus for spells and such but that's beside the point.

When you first use it, it will "scan" the target. This will copy their DNA, their Magical abilities and their Semantic knowledge. However to actually use the abilities gained you must 'devour' targets with suitable biomass and/or mana reserves. This does not actually involve eating them but rather weakening them to the point where they cannot resist the 'devour' ability, which will disintegrate the target into particles which are then absorbed by cilia like organs within the tail.

You should be able to use these abilities easily, however do not try to modify any of the 'blueprints' before I can teach you, after all its very tricky and something could go wrong."

After the explanation on how our powers would work he then turned to a panel and started fiddling with the controls, presumably to locate and choose an appropriate world to throw us in.

Whatever he was doing obviously had an effect on the Auger as the rings started to move more rapidly and the once blue orb started to turn orange.

I watched mesmerized as patterns made by the Augers rings repeated in front of me faster and faster.

The orb was turning bright red and was now thrumming very loudly. I was feeling just a little intimidated.

Then from red the orb was turning to a blinding white color and the rings were spinning so fast I could no longer see them and stars were filling my vision and then as quickly as it was happening it stopped.

The rings had aligned and stretched out in a tunnel shape, at the end was a white ring filled with what looked like liquid silver. The portal had opened.

"Now its quite simple, just go through the portal and wait to be unsealed then do whatever you want, and remember, if you need me all you gotta do is call my name and no matter where I am ill hear you, got it?"

"""Got it"""

"Alright, whenever your ready."

I turned to the Auger and started walking through the ring tunnel towards the portal. I was a little nervous because not 5 minutes ago these rings were moving faster than I could see them. And when I reached the portal I stopped.

I'd been so excited for this earlier but it was now hitting me that I was getting out of my comfort zone.

Then I heard Viktor.

"Oh by the way, don't be scared by how the portal feels trust me, you'll be fine"

...Well that's encouraging. I slowly reached a finger to poke the portal and it felt cold. I tried to pull my hand away but it was stuck, the portal sucking me in. I was concerned at first but then remembered that Viktor said it would be weird so I let it happen I was pulled through into a dark void and I was floating in this void when I heard Viktor's voice from seemingly nowhere.

"This is Limbo, where your mind will remain until you are unsealed, your body has already been transported and is in its crypt. Achlys and Macathee have also been transported."

"What happens now?"

"Now? You wait, wait until you're Crypt unseals, don't worry time will pass faster in limbo."

 _...Great now more waiting. At least I can sleep in._

* * *

 _ **POV Luka**_

It was a lovely day all things considered. I mean just today a few more heroes came to be baptized, and I got to learn a few more moves. Soon I will be the best swordsman the world has ever known, and five years from now, I'll be baptized myself and become a true hero.

After all someone has to stop the Monster Lord from ruining the possibility of peace between humans and monsters. And that someone will be me.

I was starting to head home after getting one of the heroes to show me some moves when i saw something weird. It looked like there was a glowing light flying down from heaven. I knew it couldn't be Ilias because I had seen her fly down before for the baptizing ceremony and she always appeared as a radiant light descending gracefully to our world, whereas this light was blue and was descending rapidly to somewhere east of Ilias village, not very far away.

I then decided to do the responsible thing any good hero should do and investigate.

I was slowly making my way through the forest when I came across something odd.

There was a strange flat circular structure made of some kind of opaque crystal, set in the ground. It was covered all around in glowing runes and patterns.

Suddenly I heard a strange humming sound and parts of the circular structure began to sink into the ground making a stairway down onto a dark tunnel. It was quite scary, but I wouldn't back away, a Hero couldn't be a coward.

I made my way slowly down the steps which led down into a large room. The walls, ceiling and floors were all made of this weird crystal and seemed remarkably clean.

"Hello?" I called out into the room, listening to my own voice echoing off the pristine walls, as I ventured deeper into the room, Then I saw it. It looked a lot like a coffin, but was made of the same crystal stuff. Would that make it a sarcophagus? It seemed a bit small, maybe a child? I don't know the specifics so wont think too hard on it. It would be dishonorable to bother the dead so I was going to leave when I heard a humming that stopped me in my tracks. Strange runes were beginning to glow on the sarcophagus and it began to slide open.

I think I might be in trouble, I must have angered some ancient dead spirit that now will seek vengeance upon humanity. I cannot let It escape and hurt people, ill fight it if I have to even if-

 _It's a… girl?_

* * *

 _ **POV Alice**_

Lights, I'm seeing lights in Limbo?

 _Maybe they're supposed to happen?_

I noticed the lights were gathering, filling my vision with a blinding glow then it stopped. And suddenly I felt something I hadn't in Limbo. Something solid. I started to touch around me when I noticed I was in a box, about the same length and width as myself. Any normal person would probably get claustrophobic, or afraid that they are in a coffin shaped box, but thankfully I was smart enough to think it through rationally. I was likely inside the crypt now, and this box was simply keeping my body safe until it was unsealed.

 _Now how do I get out? Do I push?_

I tried pushing but it seemed to not achieve anything. I looked around for a few seconds when I noticed a faintly glowing rune on the 'lid' that was practically begging to be touched. After mentally face-palming for ignoring such an obvious thing, I reached over and touched the rune, which began to glow with greater intensity. More runes started to appear across the surface and the lid started to slide off.

 _ITS ALIVE!_

I giggled at my inner joke and waited for the lid to open and when it did I was somewhat shocked to find that I was not the only creature occupying the crypt. There was a small boy with purple hair. He didn't look especially hostile but that sword could do a number on me in my current state.

"..."

"um...hi?"

Hi? He just saw a sarcophagus open with a living person inside and he says hi?

"...hello."

"...um..sorry to bother you, but are you an evil spirit planning to take vengeance on humanity?"

 _...what?_

"..b..because if you are," he points his sword at me "..I..I'll have t..to stop you."

 _The nerve, I'm not an evil spirit._

"Rude."

"What?"

"I spend who knows how long sitting around in Limbo, finally wake up and the first greeting I get is ' _hello are you an evil spirit?'_ I mean come on, do I look like a spirit to you, never mind an evil one?"

He paused for a moment and seemed to consider the point.

"..w...well you're the one that came out of a coffin!"

"Sarcophagus."

"Whatever, the point is, you were in a box for dead people."

"Are you saying that because this box is for dead people means that a living person can't sit in one?"

"…..well...no.. But what was I supposed to think!"

….I mean he technically had a point, judging by his attire and armament I would guess that I'm in a medieval world. This kid just entered a strange crystal structure in the ground, found a sarcophagus covered in runes that suddenly decided to open. Its not like he's the only person who would come to that conclusion.

 _Whatever may as well get some info._

"Doesn't matter anyway, who are you?"

"My name is Luka, I'm training to become a hero, so that one day I will defeat the Monster lord!"

 _Monster Lord? That sounds interesting._

"Whats a Monster Lord?"

Obviously that was an odd question to ask given Luka's current attempt to mime a tuna.

"You don't know what the monster lord is?"

"Nope."

"Do you know who Ilias is?"

"...no."

"Do you know what a human is?"

 _Cheeky bastard._

"You're a human."

"Yes and so are you.." then his face became a bit apprehensive "I think."

"I can guarantee that I am most certainly not human."

At this his eyes widened and his hand edged towards his sword.

"So, you're a monster then aren't you."

"What?"

"Your gonna try and make me submit to your lustful ways, but I wont! As a hero and devout follower of Ilias I will not allow you to have intercourse with me!"

 _What the fuck._

"What! No why would I want to do that?"

"Because that's what monsters do."

What an idiot, says he's gonna be a hero and spouts nonsense like that.

"I'm not a monster, I'm a Deus Rex."

"...Whats that?"

"Does it matter? Look I'm not interested in having intercourse especially not with you."

"Then aren't you human? I mean, you look human."

I simply stared at him for a few moments until I decided.

 _Ah what the hell, can't hurt to prove it._

I then decide to prove my lineage buy sprouting my tail.

To say he took it well would be a lie.

"So you are a monster."

"No I'm not."

"Humans don't have tails."

"Humans also don't have wings."

"Your point?"

"Or halos."

At that he stopped, apparently my vague description of an angel caught his attention.

He seemed pretty annoyed.

"Are you saying that Ilias is a monster?"

"No, You are."

Now he was shocked.

"By believing that a non human must be a monster, you're the one who implied it."

He then stopped to think about it and then seemed resigned.

He sighed.

"So you're really not a monster."

"Nope pretty sure a monster would know what this 'Monster Lord' is anyhow."

He nodded, apparently accepting this answer. That's good I guess, can't have him trying to kill me so soon in my adventure.

 _Now to make him useful._

"Luka?"

"Yes?"

"Where do you come from?"

"I come from Ilias Village."

"Where's that?"

"Is there anything you do know? Whats the last thing you remember?"

I opened my mouth to speak but I can't tell him about Baskerville Hall so the best option is to fake amnesia.

* * *

 _ **POV Luka**_

"...Whats the last thing you remember?"

The strange girl opened her mouth to speak but then stopped, she seemed to try this a few more times before stopping.

"I… Don't know."

"You don't know?"

That wasn't good, she must have amnesia, no wonder she doesn't know of the Monster Lord or Ilias or any of that. Well a hero can't leave people in trouble so I have to help her.

"Well it doesn't matter, why don't you come to Ilias village with me?"

She simply looked at me with that blank expression she'd been using the whole time, it was kinda creeping me out, she didn't seem to smile, get angry or annoyed. The only way to tell was her voice or what she said.

"Why not?'

"You'll have to hide your tail though."

She tilted her head questioning my statement.

"People in Ilias village will think your a monster and kill you."

"Then why didn't you kill me?"

"Well for one, you weren't planning on doing anything so I didn't have to fight you, and I'm a pacifist anyway."

"A pacifist that carries a sword?"

"I just want peace between humans and monsters, I'll fight for it if I have to."

"Understandable, only idiots believe peace comes on its own."

"…"

"..."

"We should probably get going before it gets dark."

She nodded.

"Lead the way."

* * *

We began the journey home and while we went I couldn't help but notice the girl staring around at everything in wonder, from grass, to trees to the stars that were now appearing in the dark sky.

 _I really need to stop calling her 'the girl'._

"By the way, you never told me your name."

"...Alice."

"Alice… it suits you."

"Thanks I guess."

"Never seen the stars before?"

"If I have I don't remember it."

Ah yeah that's probably a sore topic I shouldn't push it.

"So Alice."

"Yeah?"

"What do you want to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, after you get to Ilias village, what are you gonna do, you gonna settle and get a job?"

"Oh, no I'm going to go on an adventure. Seeing as I Know nothing about this world, I want to explore it, then ill decide on what to do next."

"Well I intend to get get baptized as a Hero five years from now when I'm eighteen, so how about you stay in Ilias village and earn some money, then we can go together."

"Earn money?"

"You can't go on an adventure without being prepared, you'll need money to get equipment and provisions."

She seemed to accept that answer, though seeing as her expression never changed it was hard to tell.

They continued walking toward their destination, he knew they were almost there. He noticed Alice's odd tail had opened at the end. It had what looked like four 'lips' that had opened out in a similar fashion to petals on a flower and was sucking in some strange mist that was coming off of various plants that she aimed it at.

"What are you doing?"

"Hmm? Oh I'm replicating them."

 _Replicating?_

"Whats that mean?"

"I am a Deus Rex, our tail is used to replicate almost anything we point it at. For example I'm replicating these plants and trees."

"What does that do?"

"Well for starters I could shape-shift into whatever I replicate, for example if I replicate a squirrel, I can turn into a squirrel."

My eyes widened in amazement. That was an impossibly useful ability.

"So you could turn into a tree?"

She seemed to ponder this for a few seconds.

"If I had enough energy yes. Though turning into a tree would only be helpful in certain circumstances. That doesn't mean I can't just grow bark as armor though."

That sounded cool… WAIT A MINUTE

"...Would you be able to replicate an angel? Or a dragon?"

"If either was nearby, absolutely."

Whoa…. That was cool.

"Though replication is one thing, using a replication is another."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know what a blueprint is?"

 _That's those things builders use right?_

"Yes."

"Imagine a builder has a blueprint for a Wooden Shed, can he build the shed without the materials?"

"Of course not."

"It's the same principle, if I don't have energy I can't use my 'blueprints'."

"I see.. Oh look we're almost there."

She looked over were I pointed to see a village with a few scattered houses and a temple in the midst.

I was happy to be home, I was getting kinda worried a monster would appear.

Then I thought for a moment.

"Do you want to stay with me?"

She simply looked expecting an explanation.

"I mean, you've got nowhere to stay at the minute, no money to stay at the inn, and I'm the only one in the village who wont kill you on the spot for having a tail."

"That makes sense."

We made our way to my house and when we entered I suddenly realized how tired I felt. I wanted to jump into bed but realized an issue. I had only one bed, and I couldn't in good conscience allow myself a bed and Alice to sleep elsewhere, though she seemed to have already sorted this issue out by curling up on an old recliner chair and falling asleep. Comparing her to the seat I realized she was pretty small, about four foot… maybe a little taller. I hadn't really noticed earlier because I am also pretty small.

But I'm only thirteen I'm sure I'll hit a growth spurt.

With that I decided to go to bed, I'll see if Alice can get herself a job, maybe butter up the librarian enough to allow her to go in and read as much as she wants. After all, maybe a few books about the world will help in her adventure.

 **A/N:** **And that's my first chapter done. Hope it's a decent enough read, I may be doing this for my friend but I do have pride of my own like any other human being** **so if you feel there's somewhere I can improve please do review. I'd rather no pointless flames such as: "I hate your work it's shit, you're shit and your computer's shit."**

 **I'd much rather that constructive criticism is given to my writing/storytelling ability. Thank you for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own Monster Girl Quest.**

 _ **POV Luka**_

I woke up about half seven in the morning. I would probably sleep in more often if my window didn't give the morning sun such a good view of my face.

 _Ah well I'm awake now._

I decided not to bother myself with complaining at the wakening and went to the kitchen to get some breakfast, after all I can use this extra time to practice my amazing sword skills.

I was about halfway through my breakfast when I realized I could hear snoring in my living room.

Well it wasn't really snoring, more like soft breaths, but they were the drawn out peacful breaths one only has when they're sleeping.

 _That's suspicious. I should check it out._

I slowly crept into the living room, careful not to wake the intruder. As I turned and looked at my old recliner chair, I saw a girl lying on it fast asleep…

 _Oh yeah! I remember now, it's that girl… Alice, yeah Alice. The girl from the strange tomb._

After recalling the previous day's events I decided I didn't have time to practice my awesome sword skills. I had to get Alice acquainted with the villagers and hopefully get her free access to the library, after all I had done some favors in the past by helping with some heavy lifting. I mean being thirteen I obviously couldn't lift as much as a man, but I helped as much as I could.

Alice will probably be hungry, who knows how long it's been since she last ate… but would she want cereal, or toast? Does she know what toast is?… Maybe just asking is the best approach.

"Hey Alice do you want breakfast?"

"..."

"..."

I forgot she was asleep.

I head over to her and gently place my hand on her shoulder and shake it slightly.

Which caused her to shift, then she started going through the motions of waking up. Stirring, yawning while stretching, and then rubbing her eyes before looking at me this that blank expression again.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, yes, do you want breakfast?"

"I'm not hungry-

 **Growl**

"..."

"..."

"I'm making toast."

After that I walked back into the kitchen, feeling pretty good about myself. For some reason whatever it was that happened just now felt like a victory.

I toasted the bread and spread some butter and strawberry jam on it.

It didn't take long for Alice to come in.

As she at through her toast, which she did seem grateful for, I decided to tell her my plan for the day.

"Alice?"

She was chewing so opted to just nod to show she was listening.

"Today we are going to go around the village, introduce you to some people, maybe get you a job and hopefully get you free access to the library, after all I'm sure a book about this world would help in your adventure."

She replied after finishing her toast.

"Sounds good, I just hope I can read the books."

Damn, he hadn't thought of that

A well If it came to it he'd teach her how to read. He was a Hero and he had to help if he could.

"Well how about we get going?"

She just nodded and stood up. It was only now that I got a good look at her face, after all yesterday id only seen her in her 'crypt' and in the dark, and now I could see some details I hadn't noticed. The most prominent and obvious being her eyes. The left eye was green and the right was blue. And her hair was not actually black but a deep navy color, though you could only make it out when the light shone on it.

Her skin was very pale, like porcelain. All in all she had a very...exotic, almost ethereal appearance.

"What?"

"Oh, I uh was just thinking that you look quite.. uh.. strange?"

"..."

"Not in a bad way, more like a 'that persons not from around here', strange."

"Oh, It'll be fine. Probably."

 _That doesn't give me confidence._

After our little discussion we headed out into the village, to show Alice around.

A few of the villager were surprised to see a visitor so young. Most people that come by are traders and heroes, so tend to be older. Of course sometimes our regular goods trader brings his son around but the kid never comes on his own. I removed query from her by telling them she had amnesia from hitting her head. Unfortunately without much evidence it was a poor explanation at best but they seemed to accept it when I informed them she didn't even know who Ilias was.

We talked to the blacksmith and I knew it was a long-shot but he refused he help, under the explanation that his work was not for such a dainty creature as her. As we were leaving she did voice her displeasure to me.

"Funny, I'll be a lot stronger than him in no time."

"We can't give the impression that you're too strong, they'll suspect you're not human."

"I know, which is why I didn't say until we left, I reserve the right to feel insulted."

 _Fair enough._

There were a few jobs that were offered like housekeeping, gardening or sewing, but Alice said she was going to find out what was available before making a decision, which wasn't such a bad idea.

After showing her around and finding work we stopped at the library, which I'd left for last.

"Here we are, the library."

I looked to see her squinting at the sign before sighing and shaking her head before we walked in.

The bell at the door rang as we entered, immediately drawing the attention of the librarian Catherine.

She was a nice lady if a little strange, always fantasizing about other worlds and ridiculous things.

It wasn't her fault, it must get really boring because no-one visits the library.

"Oh hello Luka what brings you here, with company I see."

"Well I was hoping to call in a favor."

"Go on."

"I was hoping you could give Alice here, a free pass to-

"Do you need assistance here?"

 _Really Alice, its rude to interupt._

"Assistance?"

"Well, the library here seems like it needs some work. You see, I've been looking for work here, but this would be the best job for me, I don't need the free pass. If you give me a job here, I can fix the place up and have a wage, which I can use to pay for books."

"No need."

"Hmm."

"What I mean is I accept you for a job as my assistant, but you don't need to pay for books, after all im at the counter looking at the door all day, if I can't see you, how will I know you've been reading the books?"

After saying this she winked at Alice, who still had the blank expression, but there was a look in her eyes that seemed to suggest she was pleased with this outcome.

I decided I'd taken enough time up and we may as well get started.

"Alright Alice looks like you've got a job and secured reading material. My work here I done, now if you'll excuse me I have some work to be getting on with."

And so I left Alice to her new job, but I couldn't help but think about the reason Catherine agreed. It wasn't like she needed help, after all the library wasn't that busy.

Alice was taking advantage of her loneliness… Clever girl.

 _ **POV Alice**_

 _Work to get on with? Sure, I bet he's off to practice these 'awesome sword skills' he keeps talking about._

Well at least I got an easy job and get to read books for free. Score.

"So Miss?"

"Catherine."

"Miss. Catherine what do I do now?"

"..."

"M..Miss. Catheri-

"YOU'RE SO ADORABLE!"

"!"

 _C..Can't Breath!_

"Look at you you're so small and pretty, were did you come from?"

"..."

 _No! I can't die, not here, I haven't even started my...adventure..yet...so….sleepy…_

"Alice? Oh silly me I'm going to smother you."

Finally the crazy lady is content to hold me in front of her face so I can actually answer her question, as well as you know, not die.

I take the opportunity to sooth my burning lungs.

"I'm sorry you were just so adorable I couldn't stop myself, I could barely contain it while Luka was here."

" _..._ put me down."

"Okay sorry."

When she finally put me down, I answered the question she asked when she so rudely introduced my face to her chest.

"I don't know were I'm from."

"...What?"

"The reason Luka wanted a free pass for me in the library is because I have amnesia, I can't remember where I came from or any of the world for that matter and I need books so I can know everything I need."

At this she seemed ecstatic.

"Oh the tragedy of a lost memory, the daring girl seeking to find the truth of her world to one day find her way home! NEVER FEAR Alice you may seek all the books you desire to complete your quest!"

 _Why are you so happy?_

"...Thanks?"

"Anytime Ali-chan!"

 _Dammit not you as well._

"So Miss. Catherine?"

"Yes?"

"I was asking what I was supposed to do before you grabbed me."

"Oh you can have a free day today, you'll still get paid, but I think you need a day to catch up on the basics that everyone knows."

That's nice.

"Whats the wages like?"

She smiled.

"One-hundred gold a year. It's the only reason I still run this library seeing as no-one comes here any more. The church pays for heroes, and they give libraries large funds, just so they keep a whole section of books for church literacy."

"..um it sounds like a lot but what does that mean?"

"One hundred is just rounding it down. Essentially you get eight gold, forty silver every month which means you actually get one hundred gold eighty silver per year."

"I mean monetary values."

"Such a big word for a little girl, you're pretty smart. Anyway one gold is a hundred silver, one silver is a hundred coppers. Five coppers can buy you a loaf of bread, ten could buy you a whole chicken or beef joint."

"So one silver could feed one person for a month plus interest."

"Poor people usually work for a handful of silver a year."

 _That's a lot of money._

"And no-one's come for a job before?"

"They have, but you were so cute I couldn't refuse"

"I'd like to think it was my smarts got me the job."

"Besides most of the churches money these days is going to fake heroes, men who get the baptism just for cheap housing."

"Cheap housing?"

"An inn that costs hundreds of gold to stay in will only cost two coins for a hero, the church pays for the rest."

"Wow."

"Of course I can get you a trades badge as a librarian and if you know enough, a trades badge as a scholar, which while it wont get you hero privileges, will get you some pretty decent discounts."

"Why do the rich need discounts."

"Are you going to complain about it?"

"…no."

 _Sweet, I'm rich!_

"Well I'm going to go read, see you later."

"Bye Ali-Chan."

I walked over to to where the books were and started looking through them, but I couldn't read the language as I suspected. Thankfully I know one way of getting the knowledge I need.

I quickly allowed my tail to slip out and replicate Catherine's knowledge of this worlds literacy and alphabet, before quickly hiding it. Technically I could replicate all her knowledge on this world but I don't want to risk being spotted.

I went back to the books and looked again, thankfully I could understand them now.

 _Let's see… The tales of Selene the Pirate? Nah, I need geography books or.. aha! An Atlas!_

 _Now Luka said this is Ilias Village ah there it is on Ilias continent just south of.. Iliasburg… which is just south of...Iliasport… Well at least I know their goddess is totally humble._

 _Anyway_

 _There's also the continent of Sentora and the continent of Hellgondo._

 _Sentora was split into four main regions, Gold, Noah, Natalia and Safina._

"Looks like there's plenty to explore… What about this Monster Lord."

I started rooting through books until I came across a Monsterpedia? Anyway it had lists of all known monsters and what info they had on them.

 _Anyway monsters….actually look a lot like humans...usually have animal parts….always female….they eat.. they eat...semen..what the fuck? Monsters that eat… but why? What kind of world...Viktor, he knows. He had to know. He knows I'm into girls so he sent me to a world full of sexy girls that are only interested in guys. THAT BASTARD._

I could see him now sitting in Baskerville hall, laughing his ass off at my expense.

At least Luka's reaction to me in the crypt was justifiable.

 _Anyway, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, lets see about this monster lord Luka was talking about._

"Lets see monster lord.. monster lord… monster lo- ah here we go."

 _So its the leader of the monsters? A fallen angel? Bullshit if it were under Ilias It couldn't possibly make a race more powerful than hers._

 _Anyway let's see… Remina were did I see that name.. oh yeah it was in the geography book._

 _Remina was a city with monsters and humans co-existing… suddenly the monsters.. killed them all? That can't be right. What good would it do. If they eat semen surely they need the humans to be alive._

 _A well no use wondering right now. I need to figure out what I'm supposed to do to get stronger._

I figured I could get stronger outside of the library, so I double checked the books on geography and basic knowledge on monsters before I told Catherine I was heading out.

Before I left she yelled out.

"By the way I'll have your uniform when you come tomorrow."

"Uniform?"

Come to think of it her clothes weren't the typical stuff, she had a slightly more noble robe, probably supplied by the church.

Though given the strange expression she had, I couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.

"Okay, see you tomorrow then."

After leaving the library I headed a little out into the woods, outside the village, and wondered about, thinking on how I could get stronger when I saw a little brook. I decided to sit and look at it for a few minutes and think about the world. I had only been here a day, almost twenty four hours.

I had actually accomplished getting a job with a fat wage packet, and learned that I was in some weird 'lose and be raped' situation.. or rather lose and be eaten. It seemed that while men had to worry about their virginity, women were just treated as food. I'm pretty sure it said somewhere that certain monsters use women for reproduction but not so much for sex as for literally turning them into monsters.

Not that I couldn't already do that if I wanted.

Still monsters have been labeled as much stronger than humans, who require the use of extreme skill in order to compete against them.

"Maybe I should learn some sword skills with Luka?"

He said he went out to learn skills from any heroes that happened to come by, maybe he does know a thing or two.

So I set of to find him.

….He doesn't have a clue.

I just spotted him in a small corner of the village practicing with some girl and honestly, he had no skill. I mean sure I'm not a swords-woman, but Achlys is and I've seen her practice. I know what skilled sword work is and that's not it. Seriously at this point I was more scared for him than the girl.

So I left. There's no way I'm asking an idiot for lessons.

"Something on your mind missy?"

I turned at the voice to find the blacksmith from earlier.

"Did you manage to get a job?"

"Yes."

"That's good. I hope your not mad that I refused you."

"No it's fine, things turned out fine."

 _Ha, I'm rich and you're not._

"That's good. But if you did get a job whats on your mind?"

"What makes you think I had anything on my mind?"

"You stopped in the middle of the path and stared a hole through a piece of grass, so either that grass is much more interesting than it appears or you're distracted."

 _He's smarter than he looks._

"I need a weapon."

He looked a little surprised

"Why?"

"Because I'm not staying forever, and when I go I'll need something to protect myself with, preferably something I've had time to get familiar with."

"Hmm, and what type of weapon would you favor?"

"At first I was thinking of a rapier, which I'm still not against, but now I'm leaning towards a pole-arm."

"Why not both?"

"What do you mean?"

"A backup weapon is never a bad idea, as long as it doesn't encumber your movement."

"That's true I suppose, well I can worry about that at a later date, for now a pole-arm will be fine."

"What kind?"

"…A scythe. Obviously I don't mean the farming implement, If the blade is aligned to the haft, it will function perfectly well as a piercing weapon or, if I get skilled enough, a slashing weapon. I have all my specifications written down."

I said while handing him a list I'd written earlier in the library. I had planned to come order it tomorrow but this works just as well.

"Very well, it shall be done by tomorrow."

"Really? No arguments about weapon functionality?"

"It's not my job to question the customer. You ask, you pay and I make. You blame yourself if it doesn't work out."

 _Fair enough._

"How much?"

"About ten silver, I know it's expensive but you can pay it off over time."

"No that's fine, I'm sure I can scrounge something up."

 _Ha scrounge, ten silver's nothing._

With that, I left the village again and found the little brook I discovered earlier. I started to head upstream, just to pass the time with some exploration, and I found where it had once been a larger stream of water. There was even a large pool of water and a small clearing around it. The whole place was quiet, and had a rather serene aura.

The pool of water was being fed by a little waterfall, barely the height of a man that cam from somewhere further uphill.

Looking into the water I could see it was almost crystal clear, and the surface was sparkling.

 _Well I will say this, strange world or not, it has style._

I reached out and poked the waters surface and felt crisp cool water. Cupping my hands I scooped some up and drank it, not so much for thirst but for the feeling of 'immersion' I got out of it.

I then fell down back onto the grass and lay there for a few minutes, after which I decided, this is where I would come to train with my scythe.

There was plenty of room in the clearing, it was out of the way of nosy villagers, and I don't need to embarrass myself in front of everybody, when my first few attempts at using a scythe fail.

There was also the fact that there was a perfectly nice pool and waterfall to bathe in afterwards but that was definitely not what I was thinking at the time.

I realized that after walking up the stream and investigating this little area, it was almost time to be home, so I started my way back to the village, keeping in mind the directions the stream went, so in future I could cut straight to the clearing.

When I finally did get back it was pretty late, and I could already smell dinner by the time I was walking through the door.

"Alice! There you are, where were you? I've been looking all over, Catherine said you left work hours ago."

"I was bored so I went in an adventure."

"You really shouldn't leave the village, there could be monsters around."

"They'd probably rather go suck a dick than bother me."

"Must you be so vulgar?"

"I'm serious, what are they gonna do to me?"

"Well...maybe… I dunno eat you?"

"The continent of Ilias doesn't have man eating monsters… at least not so far south.

"...Still, what if a monster did eat you?"

"That's my problem."

"Everyone would be upset If something happened to you."

"So?"

"What do you mean 'so'?"

"If something happened to me I'd be more worried about myself than whether everyone's upset or not. "ooh no my legs torn off, I wonder if someone from the village is weeping for my poor leg.""

"That's harsh."

"Yes, yes it is."

At that he remained quiet until after we'd eaten the stew he'd made. I will say it was quite nice.

"How was your first day?"

"Easy, Miss. Catherine didn't make me do anything for today."

"Lucky."

"She also said she'd have my uniform tomorrow."

"Uniform?"

"Is that strange?"

"Well if I'm honest, Catherine's is the only library I've ever been in so I've never really thought about it."

"Oh."

After that I yawned.

"Can I sleep on your chair again?"

"You didn't ask last night."

"I was too tired at the time."

"Well I was going to offer you my bed instead."

 _Hehe, that rhymed._

"No thanks, the chair's big enough."

And with that I claimed my spot on the recliner chair again. I realized that next time the traders were in town to buy some more clothes, as I only had this dress, these leggings and combat boots.

 _I can worry about that later. Hopefully I can convince Catherine to give me my first pay packet early._

The next day started in a boring 'normal' way. I got up had breakfast and left. Of course Luka and I shared a few words, though the subject was unimportant, just typical comments on how good the morning was and speculation on the weather.

It almost felt like I'd been part of the village for years, because in just one day the people had apparently become so used to my presence that there was barely a passing glance as I walked.

That was good I suppose, I don't really like being the center of attention.

I allowed my mind to wander briefly, looking at the scenery and wondering whether or not Catherine actually had work for me to do. I mean, the library wasn't really in need of much work, considering its lack of customers.

I entered the building to find Catherine already there. Not that I had made much attempt to beat her here.

"Hello Miss. Catherine."

"Oh, hello Alice."

"What am I doing today?"

"Well I was thinking that the books in each category needed rearranged into alphabetical order, and the back room needs dusting."

"Back room?"

"The library is limited in size, so there's a back room that holds books that are rarely needed or heretical."

"...Heretical?"

"Yes, there's a red bookcase in the backroom I use for heretical books. Technically it is 'sinful' to keep them, but I've always found the destruction of knowledge to be more heretical than anything a monster can write."

"So those books are made by monsters?"

"Actually for the most part no, but there are a few monster books in there."

"And the church never finds out?"

"As far as the inspectors are concerned, I have their holy books, texts and literature up front and my heretical books are in a no access zone. As long as it stays that way there's no need to force me to do anything. After all they can appreciate a good book just as much as me."

I deadpanned.

 _What did I expect, the priests are human too I suppose._

"I do have one question."

"What?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I figured you like reading so I offered you more books, if you become bored of these ones."

I see, that's nice I suppose, I'll definitely have to read them sometime.

"Thanks I guess."

"Wait! I almost forgot to give you your uniform."

At that she handed me a bundle of clothes.

"They don't look the same as yours."

"I..uh...well… that's because mine is a librarians vestments. Yours are for assistants."

"...huh okay."

 _I guess it makes sense that we would have different clothes, after all she is a higher station than me._

"You can get dressed in the back room, off you go!"

 _May as well have a look around while I'm there._

I went into the back room, after Catherine showed me where it was. I didn't start rooting through the books yet seeing as I could enjoy them more when I had time to spend. I got into the skirted uniform. It was strange, where Catherine's uniform was a robe like garment that covered to the ankles, mine was a skirted shirt with gloves, a pair of leggings and a headpiece. A well, this world had lewd unisex monsters, a different uniform is hardly weird.

After I came out Catherine seemed pleased about the setup, though she did reorganize my headpiece, it was the first time I've ever put one on so naturally I'd get it wrong.

"You look great! Now, get those books rearranged and dust the back room, then you can do whatever you want for the rest of the day."

"Actually Miss. Catherine I've been meaning to ask, may I have my first payment early, I need something to get on my feet."

 _Not really a lie, I do need to buy some food, can't keep eating Luka's food. Not that he isn't a good cook, far from it, but I need to at least get the food so I'm not a leech. Not that I couldn't turn into a leech but that would probably be an unsavory thought to humans._

"Sure, if you do your work well, you can have your first pay today."

 _Scythe secured!_

"Thanks Miss. Catherine."

At that I set off to complete the barely difficult task, most of the work was done already, there were just one or two books that needed rearranging, mostly the church section, which didn't surprise me much considering the only times people came in here were probably priests on the odd occasion that they left the temple.

When I had double checked the books were in order I grabbed a duster and made my way to the back room.

 _ **POV Luka**_

What a great day! The sparring has been going well, I'm almost certain my sword skills are improving.

Soon I'll be ready to face the monster lord. Once I defeat her then monsters and humans can coexist.

As I was daydreaming I didn't notice Brad the blacksmith coming up to me.

"Hey Luka!"

"WHAA!"

"I'm gonna ignore the fact you just sounded like a girl if you run an errand. I was gonna ask you to do it anyway, but this feels more gratifying."

"What do you want."

"Can you deliver this to yer little friend."

"You mean Alice?"

"Yeah the weird one."

That's not very nice. She's not weird she's just a little… strange.

 _Wait she wants something delivered?_

"What is it?"

He didn't answer in words instead handing me the object which was a large scythe. Well, large for my or her size, it could easily be a head higher than her.

"...Why in Ilias' name did she want this monster."

Not an inaccurate title, it had a black metal haft with two grips, the blade had to be very sharp, if the several layers of leather wrap was any indication.

"I have no idea why she wanted it, or what she intends to do with it, but it ain't my business to know or to tell."

"Fair enough."

I gripped the haft and realized it had quite some weight behind it, not too much for me, but still heavy.

After laying it on my shoulder I began to walk to the Library, where she would be.

I was quite glad I headed to the library and not straight home, as home was a bit farther and my shoulder had started to ache.

"Alice!"

"Yes? Oh Luka how are you… and…. What is that?"

"Oh hi Catherine. This is a delivery for Alice is she here?"

"Yes.. but she's busy at the moment so… why not come by later and-

"I'm almost done Luka gimme a sec!"

Ah that was Alice, her voice sounded muffled though, I wonder were she was.

"Hey Luka why don't you give me the… thing and I'll give it to Alice for you?"

"But I want to see it."

"But… surely you've got other important things to be doing?"

"What is it Luka?"

Ah there's Alice.

In a…

"Alice?"

"What?"

"Why are you wearing a maid outfit?"

I mean sure it was undeniably cute but still why?

"Maid?"

Oh yeah, no knowledge about our customs.

"That's a maid's outfit, and before you ask a maid is like a personal servant."

If she was surprised she didn't show it and instead simply looked at Catherine.

"You said this was my uniform."

"Well. It kind of is."

"How so."

"Technically speaking there is no librarians assistant uniform, so I just thought it would look cute."

I mean at least she's honest. NO WAIT shes not honest, if she was she would've said earlier.

"Doesn't matter anyway what did you bring Luka?"

Well, if Alice doesn't care it shouldn't matter that much.

Anyway.

"Brad said to give this to you."

"Brad?"

"The blacksmith."

"He has a name?"

...Please stop with the face, I literally can't tell if your joking or not.

"Please tell me that was a joke."

"It wasn't funny?"

"Not that, just with your facial expression I couldn't tell."

"Oh.."

She paused for a minute and then shook her head and received the parcel from me.

Technically the head of the scythe was the only part wrapped up so it was a parcel with a pole.

Unceremoniously she unwrapped the scythe for display and to be honest it looked awesome, though it was probably mostly the scythe imagery, as it was just as good craftsmanship as Brad displayed on any other weapon.

"Huh, this is handy, now I don't need to collect it later, though I will need to pay Brad at some point."

"Why'd you get a scythe?"

"Swords are too mainstream."

Mainstream? Whatever that's not what I meant.

"No I mean why did you get a weapon?"

"I'll need to be able to protect myself when I go adventuring."

"But I'll be there."

"I can't rely on you all the time."

...This was true, and besides more people fighting increases the odds.

"But I learn all my sword skills from heroes, I've never heard of people actually using scythes outside of legend."

"Then I'll just have to be a legendary scythe master, who's legendary scythe skills are the stuff of legend."

Its amazing that she can say stuff like this with a straight face, its an art I guess.

"Okay if your certain it will work out, then do what you want."

Now time to go practice my sword skills again, after all, if she really does intend to have legendary skills, my skills have to be more legendary. After all I'm going to be a hero, I have to be strong.

 _ **POV Alice**_

"...do what you want."

After he left I took another couple of seconds holding the weapon before setting it against the wall and heading in, deciding I'd practice later, first I needed to look at a few books, till the end of my work hours.

As I was going through the 'heretical' section I came across an old book with no writing inside.

 _That's odd…_

Paying no heed I simply tossed it into the burner, which we used to keep the library war, after all no need to keep an empty book.

I started reading through a book about the different magics in the world whether by man or monster. I notice that any magical power not supplied by Ilias regardless of source was heretical.

Which was totally surprising to me and I did a spit-take.

After rolling my eyes at the idiocy of this religion I continued reading and found a little gem of knowledge about magic books, you can know them by how they have a nigh unintelligible language in them, but if you have an affinity for the magic contained in them you are able to understand the characters within. Some books however have been kept hidden by powerful charms and the only way to read them is by dropping some of your own blood on the pages. You can recognize these books as they tend to appear as books with.. no writing… on the pages…

 _Oh shit!_

I immediately ran to the burner panicking and hoping I wasn't too late but was shocked to see the book just fine inside. Though fires were raging around it the area the book was sitting didn't catch fire.

I reached in and poked the book surprised to ind it was cold, then remembered that the book was protected by powerful charms, of course a completely ordinary fire wouldn't burn it.

Praising my luck I opened the book again to see its blank pages staring back.

Taking a moment to think I ended up just biting my thumb and pressing the bleeding wound against the paper. I felt a sharp pain as some blood forcibly exited my body and coursed over the paper forming words. I turned to the title to see what it was.

It simply read: The art of Runecraft.

But it was the sub text that made me surprised. _Alice Arima Baskerville? It knows my name?_

 **Authors note:** **I hope this chapter was good, I cant help but feel I rushed it in places, but that could just be** **me. If any improvements could be made don't hesitate to tell me. I may or may not have time to fix it, but it will help improve my writing skills.**

 **Thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note** : **Hello. Thank you to those of you who have read this so far, I'm happy to see that this story is doing well so far.**

 **I have a little thing to say about my character that I didn't notice until a friend pointed it out to me. And that is my character's name "Alice Baskerville" is actually already the name of an anime character from "Pandora Heart" if I'm not mistaken. Which I found to be an amazingly funny coincidence. I had never seen or even heard of Pandora Heart before then. My inspiration for choosing the name "Baskerville" was from the tale of the Baskerville hound. When I'd heard of the name I thought it sounded like a cool, upper class family name so I chose it. Then I picked Alice, and Arima because of the meaning of their names. Alice means Beautiful, and Arima means soul. So that was how I got that name. As for Achlys and Macathee, they aren't actually my characters, they were made by the friend who requested this fan-fiction. She copied my method of naming and if I'm not mistaken Achlys means dark and Macathee means broken.**

 **Furthermore...I only named Victor that because I personally think the name Victor is badass.**

 **So there you have a little trivia surrounding the names of some of my characters.**

 **Disclaimer:** **Somehow, I still don't own Monster Girl Quest.**

* * *

 _ **POV Alice**_

 _Alice Arima Baskerville? It knows my name?_

I mean thinking on it I didn't really know whether to be surprised or not, given that it's a magical book that took some of my blood but man is that weird. I mean how does it know my name by my blood?

Maybe its a tag of ownership… like 'this book now belongs to Alice'?

I suppose it doesn't really matter, my time would be much better spent learning the.."The art of Runecraft" than asking how a book knows my name.

Opening to the first page I was greeted by a page telling me the basic knowledge about runes. It was essentially a "Put it together" system. Different runes meant different things and would achieve different results depending on how they were put together.

There were four key things to remember and those were 'Symbols', 'Runes', 'Strips' and 'Circles'. Apparently a Symbol was like a few letters or a word, and weren't very helpful on their own. Put a few Symbols together and you get a Rune, which is like a phrase or a small sentence, which was the lowest advised casting amount.

After all simply casting the Symbol for 'Fire' could mean anything from a small flame to a huge explosion so it is ill advised to be so unspecific.

Put a few Runes together to get a Strip, Which is like a very large sentence or even a paragraph, and tends to be the highest you will use on a regular basis, as they are complex enough to achieve high results, without being absolutely ridiculous. Naturally then the Circle is a bunch of strips and the Circle is basically a page of information. These are reserved for especially powerful and specific spells.

It seemed that it was a pretty easy magic to do. In practice, I would essentially just be writing what exactly I wanted the spell to do, while also being specific. For a fireball, I don't just write 'throw fireball' I have to write 'Cast, Fire sphere diameter 20cm, at target.' This particular set would be a Rune as it is not particularly large.

All in all I liked this, all I need to do now is go through the book to learn the symbols, what they look like and their meaning and I can essentially do what I want with the only limits being casting times and my own creativity. There were also apparently some notes on Artifice and Demonology, but the book refuses to allow access to that information until I've mastered the 'language' as it were.

"Hey Alice!"

"AAHH-

 **Thump!**

I had bumped into the bookcase…

 **Thud Thud.**

And two books landed on my head.

One was labeled 'High Impact' and the other was 'An unlucky accident'.

"Alice.. are you okay?"

"You scared me Miss. Catherine, and the bookcase thinks it has a sense of humor."

"Well, I'm sorry for scaring you but you are aware that closing time was fifteen minutes ago."

"WHAT...but that can't be right I was just after dusting the back room and.."

Looking outside I did notice the sun was further in the sky and all the clocks in the library were at closing time.

"It's probably because you fell asleep."

"…I fell asleep?"

"Yes you were holding some old wordless book, and you had a nasty cut on your finger, so I tended to your finger and let you have a rest. After all I couldn't bring myself to wake you when you looked so adorable."

 _...okay._

Looking at my finger I realized she had in fact wrapped my finger in a small bandage like piece.

But when did I fall asleep?

Looking back down at the book I realized it was once again wordless. No title no subtext… Had it just been a dream?… That felt disappointing. But I didn't want to give up yet so I picked up the book and turned to Catherine.

"Miss. Catherine?"

"Yes?"

"Can I keep this?"

She looked at the book for a few seconds.

"Sure it's empty anyway. Oh and here's your pay."

Taking the bag and thanking her I grabbed my scythe and headed out.

I realized that I had too much to carry. I was holding a scythe over my right shoulder, I had the book tucked under my left arm and was holding the bag of money in my left hand. I couldn't walk around like that all the time.. I should get a money pouch..

Going into the general shop I looked around for a suitable pouch eventually purchasing one that was not quite big enough to hold a book but almost there. Besides it was for holding money not books.

I decided when the traders came I would buy navy blue dye for my, currently brown, money pouch.

 _Oh yeah I need to start figuring how to use this scythe…_

Best to put my stuff back home, no point carrying round money and an old book, that may or may not be magic, when I'm going to practice my scythe.

After arriving at Luka's house I realized he wasn't home yet, so I put my bag of money and the old book on the Recliner that I had effectively claimed. After raiding the kitchen for a piece of bread I got up to leave, but not before writing a letter to Luka, saying I'd be back a few hours late.

Making my way back to the clearing I had found I questioned myself on how exactly I would learn to use a scythe. I wasn't an idiot who thought if I knew how to swing it I was a master, or that I would learn by just swinging it. I had to have a method. I was glad I had some idea of what to do. After all if I knew where I was trying to hit, as long as I'm capable of aiming and hitting that point successfully I should be fine.

More than anything I wanted to reach Viktor's level of scythe combat. Sometimes it seemed like he was barely making any hand movements, yet he still had a whirlwind of strikes around himself by perfectly manipulating his scythe's momentum. Of course, I knew I wasn't going to get to that level any time soon, if anything if I train for five years I might be able to start doing rotations, I will be nowhere near as fast or flawless as his.

Shaking my head and removing the distracting thoughts from my head, I set up a log in the clearing that was just about as tall as I am and held the scythe. Now for my first self taught lesson… Hitting the right place. It might sound lame but the best practice I can get is by ensuring that I hit exactly where I want to hit, when I want to, after my accuracy and handling has improved I can work on techniques.

I began by attempting vertical overhead attacks, trying to hit a specific spot on the log, but I was always off by a few inches.

"Well, no one said this would be easy."

* * *

 _ **POV Luka**_

 _Where is she?_

I had got home a while ago. Apparently Alice had beat me here but had left at some point to do something. Whatever it was she said it would be a few hours so I wasn't really all that worried, but it was getting dark out, and if she was much later her dinner would be cold….Her scythe wasn't here, maybe she was using it for something.

I also needed to tell her the traders were due in tomorrow, meaning she could get new clothes.

Its not that she was dirty or anything, in fact I'd say she was cleaner than everyone else in the village. She practically smelt like flowers, though I had a sneaking suspicion that had something to do with those copy powers she said she had.

It wasn't long after these thought that she finally got back.

"Ah good you're back, dinners ready, it shouldn't be cold yet….."

It was then I finally took in the state of her. She was practically covered head to toe in scratches and her clothes had been ripped in several places.

"...um Alice?"

"What?"

"What happened to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Have you seen how cut-up you are?"

"Oh… It was an accident. Not to worry."

"But-

"I'll be fine."

Well… As long as she's not worried… I guess it's just a few scratches.

"By the way the traders are in town tomorrow."

"Excellent, I can get some replacement clothes, some dye and a suit of basic armor."

...Well at least she knows what she wants but… That'll cost a lot of money.

"Sorry Alice but.. that wont be cheap so I don't think-

 **Thud.**

And now there was a bag with a whole bunch of silver in it, sitting on my table… That's like a years worth of money...

"...Where did you get this!"

 _I hope she didn't steal it…_

"My wages."

"...Wages?"

"I get a hundred gold a year."

...It's not fair, why does she get that much...Oh wait, she works in the library and they're funded… by the church… I guess it makes sense she'd make a lot of money.

Well I guess her goals for tomorrow aren't far fetched.

"I'll get the things I need tomorrow, and then pay off the blacksmith for the scythe."

"I see… well it seems you've sorted yourself out then."

I didn't really know how to strike up a casual conversation with her. Every time I tried, she would only say what she felt was necessary, which was never a lot, so rather than trying to continue I decided it was late enough already and headed to bed.

"Night Alice..."

Actually, maybe I could buy something for her tomorrow, I mean she gets way more money than me but it's the thought that counts right? It's not like I'm trying to woo her or anything, I somehow doubt she'd be interested in me, I just wanted her to trust me and maybe open up a bit, after all she always maintained that poker face of hers.

I had never seen her react much to anything, though I knew she can react given that Catherine told me she had fallen asleep in the library and had jumped when woken. Obviously she _can_ be surprised, but she doesn't...express it. I couldn't tell if she just didn't show emotion, or if she was guarding herself, that maybe she didn't feel safe showing emotion. At least that's Catherine's theory.

Unfortunately I didn't know much about her, so what would she like…

I guess the best thing is not what she wants but what she needs. She doesn't have a pillow or blanket, she just lies on the recliner claiming to be warm enough. I should also get dye, because it seems she likes that dark blue color her hair is.

* * *

 _ **POV Alice**_

"...Night Alice"

Traders coming tomorrow. That's convenient, I can get new clothes, hopefully get some dye so I can color it navy and get some basic armor so I don't kill myself before I face an actual opponent, because damn if these cuts don't sting. I have to hand it to that blacksmith… Brad was it? He makes good stuff, I didn't even notice half of these scratches until after I stopped.

In all honesty I'm not even sure how I did so bad that I got cuts all over. All I did was try to swing a scythe at a log for a few hours.

When I reached the recliner, I stuffed my money bag down the back of the seat and was about to lay down when I took notice of the wordless book again. I really hoped I hadn't been dreaming about it being magic. I decided to test it again. Luckily I didn't need to cut myself. I'd already done that earlier…

I sat down and, after doing the little mundane things one does when trying to get comfortable, touched my finger against one of the small injuries that had bled a little and placed it once more against the book. I felt a stinging sensation and the book had once more become full of writing. The title was once again visible "The Art of Runecraft"

I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little giddy at the thought of learning my first magic.

I decided that the first thing I wanted to do was learn a healing spell, after all it would mean I could practice magic, as well as my scythe skills.

I turned to the first page on symbol, and it said to simply find the symbol I wished to learn and focus intently on the symbol and memorize it. Was it really that simple? No 'search for your soul' or 'reach deep within yourself and find the power within'? Well I could respect that. Not all magic needs to be cheesy.

I turned to the 'targets' section. It was essentially the area showing the symbols for the differing targets for the spell, whether touch, self, target, area etc.

I found for the one for touch, as it could be used on myself or others. And I looked carefully at the image, memorizing it, ensuring there wasn't any room for forgetfulness. And as I looked I noticed the symbol began to glow. It got brighter and brighter, till it started becoming uncomfortable, but I couldn't take my eyes away. It started to hurt and I felt a jolt of pain then everything was dark.

It was dare everywhere, but like when you stare at the sun the symbol was burned into my vision… No to say it was like the sun would insult the symbol for rather than just my vision, I could almost feel it inscribed on my soul.

There was no possibility that I could forget this image, any time I thought 'touch' I could feel it in the back of my mind instinctively.

At least I've realized one thing. I don't need to reach into my soul. The book's doing a good enough job at that. Which sounded a lot less scary than it should have been.

I then turned over to find the word for 'area', and started to learn it. This got the same result as last time. After which I learned 'heal' and the learned a symbol called 'numeracy'. Apparently rather than having multiple numbers, this symbol singularly represents any numerical value I want, so for example rather than using a symbol for fifteen, I use numeracy, and if I intend it to be fifteen then it counts as fifteen. And it never makes mistakes because it's linked to my soul, so there's no downside.

Finally I learned a symbol that meant 'Values' which accounted for all forms of measurement from measuring mass in grams, to length in meters. Having learned touch, area, heal, numeracy and values, I could work on my first rune which used all of them.

Specifically 'Touch, Area 10cm, Heal' Which meant that it would heal anything within ten centimeters of wherever I touch. Now all I had to do was…

"ALICE!"

"AHH!"

What...where...Luka?"

"Luka what are you doing waking me up by yelling?"

"I was worried."

"...Why?"

"You wouldn't wake up, it's twelve already, Catherine said she didn't see you and I came back to see if you're alright, and find you lying here sweating and looking sick. And when you wouldn't wake up.."

Sure enough, I felt like I had the worst headache ever, I felt really tired and I was drenched in sweat.

I forgive him for waking me up, but I really don't feel well at all

"I..gotta...go see… Catherine."

"Nope. You're staying here."

"But-

"I'll talk to Catherine, tell her you're sick, because you've got it bad. I just hope its not an infection from all them cuts."

"Well, if I can't go out, then can you take this money to the blacksmith, it's for the scythe."

I said while handing him the right amount of silver from my pouch.

"Sure, I'll pass it on."

After taking the money, he headed out to find Catherine.

 _Why do I feel like I didn't sleep last night, after bashing my head of the wall fifty times._

Was it the book? After looking again I found it was once again wordless.

But that's weird, I was practically reading it when Luka...woke me up?… He said I was asleep. Was it just a dream again? It can't be, you normally forget dreams, and while most of what I read isn't fresh in my mind, there are certain things which I could recall with absolute clarity. Those Symbols. There was only one way I could prove to myself that I wasn't dreaming. To use the spell to heal those small injuries.

Though it would be suspicious if I suddenly was completely scratch-less, so I picked one on my arm, one that was barely noticeable and chose it as my guinea pig.

I thought of those runes and focused my mind on my hand. I could definitely feel something and my hand began to glow. But before I could get the results I wanted, I suddenly felt a sharp pain that ran straight from my hand to my head. It was far more intense than anything I'd ever felt, but it only lasted a split second before it was gone.

I wasn't dreaming, something was definitely happening for a second there, but it just didn't work. That wasn't a sign of lack of magic, it was magic failure. Which can only mean the spell didn't make sense or it cost too much for me to cast. It definitely made sense, it had every required variable. Which mean I didn't have enough mana, which was absurd because I hadn't even used… any…

I needed to read the book again. This could serve as a double test.

Using the scythe to cut the tip of my finger and pressing it on the book it once again was readable. I turned the pages till I got to the subject of mana. It explained some basic knowledge on mana being the fuel of magic etc, and went on to talk about mana depletion. And this is where I found what I wanted. The book uses a pre-made spell and some of the reader's own mana to ingrain the knowledge of the symbols into their mind and soul. Which explained my headache, my sharp pain and my constant sweat since I'd woken earlier. I was suffering from mana depletion.

"Alice?"

And there was the second thing I wanted to check.

"Hmm?"

"You were asleep. Sorry to wake you when you're sick, I just wanted to say that Catherine's fine with you taking he day off, and I've passed on the money."

Well this proves that the book isn't physically readable. It seems when I give it blood, I go into a sleep-like state in which I can read and learn from the book.

Now unto further business.

"Thanks. I'd like to go check those traders."

"But you're sick!"

"I'm feeling a bit better, besides I won't be doing much activity and the fresh air will be good for me."

"...fine, but I'm coming to keep an eye on you."

"Okay."

Grabbing my money, I followed Luka to the stable area. The stables had a large field beside it which was ordinarily used for 'test rides' when people were interested in buying a horse, but the stable master always rented it out to traders when they came.

I checked around the place and the first thing I found was a clothier, which was easy because all the bright colors easily caught the eye.

I kept my money pouch out of sight at all times, and I had even filled it with some wool I bought earlier so merchants wouldn't hear a jingle. That way they wouldn't think I'm loaded.

Furthermore I was a small girl. I may not have the authoritative feel that a tall businessman would have, but I had something far more powerful.

 _Hehehe…._

* * *

 _ **POV Luka**_

After taking Alice to the traders, she immediately spotted a clothier and headed to him.

I didn't know how she was going to get anything by hiding her money. No-one would sell you anything if they thought you didn't have money right?

Oh what a poor innocent fool I was, unaware of the evil about to transpire.

The trader was the first to speak.

"Hey kids, interested in anything here? I doubt you could afford much though. No matter, there has to be something you'd like. A bracelet perhaps?"

Now was when I expected a calculating business attitude from Alice along with the necessary cash.

Now was when I expected a deal to be made and fairness to prosper.

Now was when I thought that Ilias would protect us.

But I'm not here to spare the details of the events that occurred that day, rather to bear witness the horrors that unfolded, for when Alice began to speak, the clothier was already doomed.

"Hey mister! This is my first time seeing so many colorful things!" And after picking up a white dress she asked "How much is this sir?".

...I didn't know what to do I had never seen her act like this before. She was acting like an enthusiastic little girl and she was even wearing a beaming smile, though I figured that it was just as fake as the persona she had just adopted.

"That's two silver."

At this her face fell and changed to one of complete sadness. She had a look of devastation that seemed as if the man had torn her soul in half, and her eyes had went puppy dog mode and it looked like she was about to cry…

It wasn't fair, he stood no chance.

After robbing him blind of four dresses, four more pairs of stockings and undergarments Alice left the man having only paid the two silver that one dress should've cost. She had also bought some sleepwear for one silver. The man was to busy feeling good at making the girl smile to notice she'd paid more money than he'd thought she had.

It's not like she lied, she'd never actually said she couldn't afford it.

She did the same to the alchemist to get the dyes she wanted.

When she got to the arms trader she returned to her normal demeanor. I could understand that, as no matter how cute you acted, no-one would give a child weaponry or serious equipment if they believed they were… well childish.

She spent money on some basic leather armor and another pair of those boots she has before leaving for home, naturally I carried everything, because I'm bigger than her, and she's sick.

I had secretly bought a decent quality pillow and blanket for her. They were quite small which was the only reason I could afford this quality but it would be perfect for her.

When we got home, I filled a tub with water and after mixing the dye in, started dying the items that required it, while Alice got some rest. Hopefully she'll feel better when she wakes up.

* * *

 _ **POV Alice**_

What day is it today.. did I sleep through the night?

I would ask Luka, but he's not around at the minute. My clothes were soaked in sweat again, but I didn't feel any headache or pains. That must mean that my mana has replenished.

To test this I retried what I did earlier, holding my palm over the cuts I'd given myself.

I felt something leave me, which I assumed was my mana, and it flowed out of my hand and created a rune on my palm that was glowing a dull green color. Little green particles showered out of the rune, homing in on any injury near my hand, and as they made contact I saw the wounds close and the scabs disintegrate, leaving no evidence I had even been scratched.

"Wow..."

MY FIRST SPELL WORKED!

This was great!, my first spell worked exactly how I wanted. As I continued to heal the small injuries, I could feel mana leaving my body. I wanted to try something, but I waited to finish healing myself before trying it.

When I had finished, I focused on the source of my mana, where it came from. I could 'see' or 'feel' how much mana I had. It wasn't much but it was a start.

"Oh Alice you're awake."

I turned to see him at the doorway.

"I came in quietly in case you were asleep, sorry if I startled you."

"It's fine."

"I'm gonna dry the clothes off now, the dye should be sufficiently bonded with them."

"How long was I asleep?"

"A few hours, its only getting dark about now."

"I see."

Well in that case I could just read more stuff, and learn more symbols. And as long as I keep an eye on my mana I should be fine.

I now had plans. I would work every day in the library, and secretly practice my magic to 'exercise' my

spirit. I would spend several hours each day practicing with my scythe. And lastly… I would get Luka to teach me how to cook, because he may not be good with a sword, but he is good with food.

Which leads to a second point, I needed to buy my own food, because I needed a larger portion of food than I was getting. It's not that I was starving but rather I needed extra to build up my supply of biomass, for future use of my abilities.

"Here's your stuff Alice."

"Huh?"

Oh he was holding the clothes I bought. All dyed my favorite color of navy.

"Oh thanks. Can I get dressed in your room? It the only other room in the house, I'll only be a minute."

"Sure."

I went in, and after getting dressed into night clothes I came out to find him holding some other navy colored stuff, but I didn't remember buying anything else.

"What are those?"

"They're.. a gift. I thought I should get you something.. but I didn't know what you'd like so I figured, you needed a pillow and a blanket so I got you these."

...Honestly I felt… touched, I did need a pillow, but I hadn't really thought about it. I had been concerned with other things… I just hope he's not trying to be...romantic. Its not that he isn't a sweet guy. He's kind and all he's done is help me, but I'm not into guys, and I don't really want to know his goddess' view on my...'interests'.

"Look Luka… this is nice...but i-

"I'm not trying to...um… woo you or anything, after all, I doubt you'd be interested in me. I just thought that if you trusted me a little more, you would.. open up a bit."

"Open up?"

"Well, you're not very expressive. Earlier you were faking being excited and honestly it's the first I've ever seen your face change."

"..."

"..So I thought...that maybe you didn't trust me enough, which is fine because we haven't known each other very long… I just thought..."

* * *

 _ **POV Luka**_

"… I just thought… If you saw I was a kind person, you'd feel safer opening up a bit."

She seemed to stop and consider this, before looking at me and she simply replied.

"Okay."

After having said that she smiled.

It wasn't a big beaming smile like earlier, in fact it wasn't very big at all, and had I been looking at anyone else I wouldn't think they were smiling.

I could only just tell she was smiling, but it was somehow more strange to look at than the earlier one. Because I could feel, from the expression in her eyes, that this was genuine. She was actually happy.

It felt nice to know I had made that much of an impact on her.

It wasn't long before she used my gifts and promptly went to sleep. While I sat in bed for awhile and stared at the ceiling, thinking about the future. I'm gonna keep practicing my skills, and five years from now, I will be a hero, then Alice and I can go on an adventure.

Nothing will stop me from fulfilling my dream of peace. But right now… I'm going to sleep.

And so I fell into dreamland seeing spirits, magic and greedy snakes.

 **Authors note:** **And done. This is the last chapter before I start on the main story-line. I finally completed this. Sorry it took an extra week to complete. I've been rather busy of late and didn't have the time to complete it. But no fear. I shall endeavor to avoid gaps like this in future.**


	4. Apology for long wait

**Authors Note:** **Hello readers. Firstly I want to apologise that I haven't been on fan fiction for about four months, leaving my story unfinished. Good news, I'm not abandoning it or giving up on writing. Rather my old laptop broke. This was a problem because that laptop had all my future pages on it, and was my medium to write on. After it broke I had to save up for a new one. My new laptop arrived last week, and I have begun writing again, so assuming I don't procrastinate I should have the next chapter up next week, perhaps sooner if I can. Again sorry for making you guys wait (those of you out there that like this story) but you should expect the long awaited next chapter soon.**

 **On another note this message is just a notice to my friend and also to the readers I guess, that I will be changing Macathee's name, simply because I find the name awkward and weird to say. I originally tried to give her nicknames like 'kat' or 'makie' but I didn't really like any of them, so I'm changing her name to Lorelei, as I like this name better. Though if someone else comes up with a name I like better before the next update I might use that instead.**

 **Disclaimer:** **Alipheese still wont let me own the Monster Girl Quest franchise.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Authors note:** **Just want to say its good to be back in business.** **Also I know I said i'd be a week, and now it took like a month. Very sorry about that. What that one guest said about my lost stuff being a bigger roadblock than I had thought was pretty accurate. That mixed with barely any free time, and just some good ol' fashioned procrastination caused me to take ages. Lastly, it took awhile, because I had to rewrite this chapter a few times because every time I wrote it, it just didn't seem right to me. So now i'm gonna say, the next chapter will be soon, because it appears when I make deadlines, I have a bad habit of missing them.**

 **Disclaimer:** **I don't own monster girl quest.**

 **(Line)**

 _ **Pov Alice**_

I woke up quite early the next morning feeling refreshed. I have to say for his distinct lack in combat skills Luka sure does make up for in miscellaneous skills, like cooking, cleaning, good sense in bedding. He's practically a perfect housewife….. I'm not going to think too hard on the implications of that.

I took a minute to stretch myself before getting off the seat, taking the time to fold my new blanket and, after checking that I had privacy, got dressed into my day clothes. By the time I walked into the kitchen Luka was already up and making porridge for breakfast.

"Morning Alice!"

"Morning"

"...How are you feeling?"

"Feeling?"

"You were sick yesterday how are you today?"

Oops, forgot about that.

"I'm fine, must have been a short spell."

Hehehe secret pun.

"...Well if you're sure you're fine… Still, I'm sure Catherine won't have you do anything tough."

True, its not like there was much to do there except read anyway.

So having ate breakfast I said goodbye to Luka and headed out, book under one arm and my scythe over my shoulder. It must have been an odd sight walking down the street and I was honestly surprised I didn't get more stares… perhaps adventurers are often strange?

By the time my deliberations had come to an end I had already arrived at the Library

"Morning Miss. Catherine."

"AH, good morning Alice… Are you feeling well?"

"Hmm?.. OH yes I'm fine."

"That's good to hear. For today I suppose you should continue as you were yesterday… In fact assuming nothing happens, which is usual here, just give the shop a dust and make sure all the books are in order."

"Yes Miss. Catherine."

"Cat is fine."

"Yes Miss. Catherine."

"...you're no fun… OH I almost forgot, follow me."

She made her way past me to the back of the shop until we reached an old closet. Though technically it was quite large.

"This used to be where I kept the mop and brushes for convenience, I had no other use for it. But now I've moved all the cleaning utensils to the tool-shed outside. And I have repurposed this room."

Repurposed? What for?

She reached for the door so evidently I was going to find out.

"TADAAH."

The room was, as expected, small, but not too small. It looked like it could just about fit an adult sized bed in here, though it would be scraping the walls. There was some plain brown paint on the walls but what caught my attention was that there was a large chair in the corner, with a small desk to one side and a small shelf to the other. The char itself looked comfy enough without the added cushions.

"Surprise! I decided If you're going to be reading most of the time you would need to have somewhere you could do it without unnecessary interruptions."

...She then had started to ramble on about something, I think it was something to do with sleeping, cuteness and cushions but I wasn't paying attention.. My mind was occupied by something far more pleasing to me…

I HAVE A LAIR!

...Wow I'm immature.

"Well I'll leave you to it!"

With that out of the way she went back to waiting for whatever customers she may get, while I did my jobs. Of course given that most of the work was already done it didn't take very long to finish and as soon as I had, I grabbed several books and took them to my lai-Room… I was gonna say room.

I started to read more in depth in the atlas, learning more than just main cities but important roads and other things of note.

I also read some books on Ilias, to get a better grip of her religion and as far as I can see, as long as you don't piss off Ilias you could do what you want, and pissing off Ilias boiled down to: Having any positive connection to monsters and having faith in anything but her. Anything else you wanted to do was fair game. Rape kids? Sure as long as they ain't monster kids, because that would make it disgusting.

This religion was quickly getting on my nerves so I put the religious texts back in their aisle, I decided to read more of the magic book, trying to cram information, but it appeared that there was always a set amount of time spent on each symbol.

This, along with each rune learnt costing me mana, made me realise how long it was going to take to learn all the symbols…

First I checked my watch, then, after providing the book with the necessary blood sacrifice… no goats involved… I began to learn something offensive, specifically the symbol for 'Fire'. Immediately after I unfocused myself from the book, and I was awake again. Checking my watch I discovered that exactly one hour and thirty minutes had passed.

I supplied blood to the book a second time. This time I learned the symbol for 'Target', again, leaving the book and checking my watch, to ensure I was correct and I saw that once again, exactly one hour thirty minutes had passed. This must be how long it takes to imprint a symbol.

This made sense to me, as that one night I had learned five symbols, I had skipped the night. Being seven and a half hours.

I then set my goal, to learn two symbols every night, and leave the rest of the time for sleep. After all I can't train if I wake up with mana depletion.

I knew from personal experience that learning five symbols at once would be an unpleasant experience, so I settled for three, giving blood to the book once more I learned the symbol for 'Form' This symbol was like 'numeracy' and 'Values' in that it represented all forms and shapes. If I wanted a sphere, I got a sphere, if I wanted a cube I got a cube.

Apparetly later in artificy I would learn to make golems, and that Form is important for making pieces like arms and legs, but that one had to take time to think of the shape. After all if you just asked for an arm or leg, you would get just that, no more no less. Meaning this spell followed the rules of this entire magic system. Always be specific.

Unless of course you want a formless vaguely humanoid shape.

I'm getting off track.

After having learned those new symbols, I left the magic book and began to read on local monsters….more specifically ones with cool abilities to stea-Borrow...i was going to say borrow.

Sadly there weren't any particularly special ones in Ilias continent, with the exception of maybe

some bandits around Iliasburg, and some harpies….i wonder what its like to fly…

Ill spare you the details of my subsequent hour long daydream….Don't blame me, it was quite riveting.

After regaining my senses, I exited my lai-Room, to get the monsterpedia and after returning to my room, and getting comfortable, started to read on different species of the world. I was actually quite interested in the spirits that supposedly controlled the elements, and these 'four heavenly knights'.

 _Ironic, considering they're fighting against angels and the armies of heaven, but I digress._

I read through the book gushing over all the possible abilities I could...borrow, up until the libraries closing time.

I heard a few quit knocks, and then Miss. Catherine whispering,

"Alice, are you awake?"

"Yes Miss. Catherine."

"Aww...i mean _ahem_ thats, uh great. Just to let you know its closing time. In case you arent aware."

"I know, just give me a minute,"

I took this time to pack all the books I thought I would read later onto my little shelf, then grabbed my 'Art of Runecraft' book, I left the library after bidding farewell to Miss. Catherine.

After I arrived home, I left my book on my recliner, took my scythe and headed out.

Following the direction I knew the clearing to be in I came back to see the log that I had been trying to exterminate yesterday, covered in countless wounds.

About three are in the spot I was aiming for.

This time however, I was not intending to use my scythe, so I fetched a different, less sentimental log.

After leaving the immediate area I then turned to look at the new log.

Raising my hand and thinking the necessary steps.

 _Cast, Fire-Sphere-10cm diameter, at target, 10mph._

Immediately an angry red-orange rune appeared in front of my palm. I watched it mesmerised, as I felt my mana drain. The runes always looked so pretty I thought. Then fire seemed to coalesce into the centre of the rune, very quickly, becoming its full size in a second, then launching itself at the pre-designed speed at the log. Upon impact there was no blast however. No explosion of flame, or any knock-back. All it did was set fire to anything it touched, so currently there was a ten centimetre circle of fire on the log's surface.

I wasn't disappointed, I had anticipated that more would be required to make the fireball more than it was. In fact I was very please by the result.

After getting another log, and drenching it in water, so that it wouldnt just burn away, I began to practice my fire magic.

* * *

 _ **POV Ilias**_

… _odd… I can sense magic near Ilias village… heathen magic._

Now normally Ilias wouldn't sense magic all that often. There was a ton of it in this world after all. In fact this particular magic wasn't even that strong, not at all. The problem lay in location. This was basically at the heart of her territory. The location of the temple where she personally baptises heroes. And yet some heathen would practice their foul sorcery in her presence?

She would have to remind them that she wasn't always a merciful and forgiving god…

* * *

 _ **POV Alice**_

"...That went well?"

Alice felt pleased with herself earlier after casting fire, so much so that afterwards, she continued to cast it over and over, in different sizes, speeds, even shapes. Seriously a cuboid of fire looks awesome.

That moment of self gratification done, and her daily scythe practice finished, she began walking through the now dark woods, to Luka's house, using heal to cure any little wounds she had received.

From the looks of her clothes, a repair spell would be handy…

* * *

 _ **POV Ilias**_

Far be it for a goddess to sit and wait in some dingy forest, hiding her glorious and beautiful presence, but she had an image to uphold. As much as it would be enjoyable, she knew even the most faithful of followers could have that faith shaken by a seemingly unprovoked smite upon an 'innocent little girl' and being the merciful god she was, she wouldn't shake their mortal faith.

Better to just smite this girl out f sight.

She noticed the girl travelling some distance past her location, and after setting up a small barrier so she wouldn't notice the attack until too late, Ilias began to prepare a spear of light…

* * *

 _ **POV Viktor**_

"Hmm, Alice..it appears you have attracted unwanted attention..."

Should he get involved?….technically he shouldn't, as a rule he would never get involved unless specifically requested. Heck if Ilias had only intended to torture Alice and force her to not use magic again, he wouldn't get involved, unless Alice asked for help.. Even later in the game if someone is trying to kill her he wouldn't get involved. But this?… She is only two days into her very first adventure and already a god is going to smite, her and she wont even know until its happened. That's just not very sporting now is it?

Weighing up his options Viktor decided to help Alice just this once, without permission. He would make it so that Ilias would be blind to her actions in some shape or form for the next five years, whether by general distractions, or just plain magically induced ignorance…

* * *

 _ **POV Ilias**_

Her spear was big enough to let loose, and she was ready to be done with this pathetic mortal.

Taking aim for the girl she drew back… and THREW….but the spear didn't fly forewards.

It left her hand, but it was stuck somewhat behind her.

"I'm afraid I cant let you do that."

 _SOMEONE DARES CHALLENGE ME!_

Ilias whirled around to face this new arrival...and he was strange. He wore a deep navy blue suit, with dress shoes, a top hat, a pocket watch and a cane. In all honesty he looked very smart, and she could tell that the clothes were of a quality beyond the works of men. She couldn't see any of his face however, as it was obscured by a deep navy featureless mask.

And he was also holding her light spear.

"Who are you to take my weapon you pathetic wretch!"

"Who I am matters little. Simply, I cannot allow you to attack this girl, neither will I harm or restrain you in any way...simply, you must leave her alone."

"I do not take commands from some WRETCHED DOG!"

She yelled casting a huge light spear at the offending man.

Within the space of a millisecond, he had set up a boundary so that none would know of this event, then held out his palm as the spear impacted, exploding with force enough to destroy a fortress.

"Pathetic dog, do you now see your errors?"

She chuckled to herself, turning to aim at the girl once more.

"You have hardly demonstrated any error but thin own."

 _IMPOSSIBLE_

She turned again to see that man standing there completely unharmed, not even the gloves were singed.

But that was impossible, the monster lord would be hard pressed to be uninjured from a strike like that, how was he completely fine.

"As much as I would love to utterly annihilate you where you stand, I am technically not supposed to interfere-

 _Interfere? With what?_

-So I will have to settle for making you forget tonight, and to conveniently find better things to do than worry about a 'little heathen girl' in your continent."

"Oh? And how are you going to do such a thing?"

Suddenly the strange man vanished and reappeared his face a few inches from her own.

"Wha-

"Like this."

She had barely any time to react before his hand grabbed her head, and then a loud reverb of sound passed through her head….and suddenly she was wondering why was she was even here?...in this dingy forest… Why...was she so...tired…

* * *

 _ **POV Viktor**_

Picking up the now near motionless goddess he teleported her to where her sleeping quarters should be.. or more specifically her bed.

Sparing one last look at Alice, finally leaving the woods and going to Luka's house. He couldnt help but sight and smirk to himself.

"You're welcome I guess… I should get going, or Solomon will scold me for breaking my word."

And with that, there was no strange man in the woods any longer.

* * *

 _ **POV Alice**_

 _Most strange. For a second in those woods…_

For a second in those woods, alice wadn't known why, but in insurmountable dread had manifested… She didn't want to believe she was scared of the dark… perhaps it was a combination if different things, but for some reason, she felt like a rabbit in front of a wolf, like at any moment, she was going to be attacked.. Nothing had happened, so it must have been nothing.

Nothing worth worrying about anyway.

She sat down at the table, and as luck would have it, that's exactly when Luka had just finished dinner.

They sat together and ate what Alice thought to be one of the best beef stews, she had ever eaten. The only one better was that one Viktor made that one time. Though it was unfair to compare people to Viktor, he was just the best at everything.

"So Alice what did you do today?"

"Mostly reading. Practised my scythe."

"Are you getting better."

"The improvement isn't as fast as I'd like, but its as fast as expected… What of your… 'sword techniques'

At this Luka smiled.

"Great, I'm learning so many moves from the heroes that come through. I'll be able to beat the monster lord in no time. Just five more years and I'll be ready."

 _I somehow doubt that._

I took my time to savour the stew he'd made, and felt a bit disappointed when it was finished. But after each of us had finished I decided to retire to my recliner after leaning my scythe on the wall beside it.

Curling up on its surface, I activated the book ,so that I could get two more symbols before falling asleep. I decided to pick 'Explode', and 'Implode' thinking of the possibilities. For example, implode could be made to put out fires, simply make an implode that only affects fire, then it will implode all the fire in an area, suffocating it, and leaving everything else untouched, or make an explode affected by fire, so that you can light entire fields ablaze. The possibilities with this magic are truly endless.

But after learning these two spells, and getting giddy over the abilities I had, I finally managed to tire myself out enough to fall asleep


End file.
